Final Words
by breea-ashee
Summary: Seto realises how much he really loves and needs Mokuba ...FLUFF WARNING... No slashincest.


Author's notes : Hey all

First…thank you so much to my two biggest supporters for your encouragement – you know who you are. If not, check my profile :)

I was very reluctant to publish this, so **_please_** don't flame me. Leave now if the thought of Seto crying repulses you.

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh or any of the characters mentioned in this fic.

Contains NO SLASH or slash/incest implications. Just some fluff about how Seto feels about his brother.

Enjoy

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Seto Kaiba sighed as he waited for the network to connect. He hated having to use his laptop from the upstairs bedroom of the Kaiba Mansion, but at the moment his office was filled with large boxes of paperwork. And the one thing worse than slow Internet was clutter. 

Finally the screen blinked: _Unable to connect to the wireless network. Please refresh the list and try again_. Seto let out a frustrated moan. He could fix it if he really wanted to; he was CEO of Kaiba Corp.

He supposed the work could wait. It wasn't terribly important; all he needed to do was a background check on a new client - for safety. The client wasn't flying in until next week, and besides, she didn't sound extremely dangerous. It could wait. Seto relaxed a little and leaned back in his chair.

The main bedroom on the third story was not a particularly big one. There were two single beds that looked like they hadn't been touched in years. They hadn't, Seto reasoned. The maid had no reason to touch them for nobody used them anymore. Seto looked at the left one dumbly for a moment. Why hadn't he disposed of them years ago! All they held was bad memories.

Seto continued to stare for a few more moments, but a sharp knock on the oak door broke his trance.

A mop of black hair appeared in the doorway, great dark blue-grey eyes peering upwards.

"Seto?" Mokuba Kaiba said cautiously. He knew his brother didn't like being interrupted whilst working.

Seto looked up at Mokuba. "Yes?" He said bluntly.

"Umm," said Mokuba, put off by Seto's harsh tone. "Can you… I mean, if you're not too busy… I need help with my homework."

Seto again looked at the screen of his laptop and clicked _connect. _"I'm busy at the moment, Mokuba."

Mokuba looked finally at his big brother before nodding and leaving the room head down. "Thanks anyway," he mumbled quietly walking away.

It wasn't until he heard Mokuba reach the bottom of the stairs that he looked up, realising what he had just done. It hurt to hear the pain in his young brother's voice. It wasn't even a big deal; all he wanted was help with his homework. _And I can't even provide that_, Seto thought angrily. _And it's not the first time this week I've brushed him off either… what the hell kind of brother am I? _

Seto slammed his fist hard down on the dark wooden desk. It hurt! He looked at the surface where his fist had connected with the desk; there was a small indentation in the surface. Surely he had hadn't just done that… he leaned in closer, squinting in the harsh light. As his eyes adjusted he made out two initials, S and M.

Seto's heart raced and his chest became tight. In an instant he remembered…

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Seto looked the huge man in the eyes. From across the chess table, he wasn't that threatening. He had that confident look about him, along with the attitude. That attitude had enabled Seto to beat so many older than him – _he's just a boy. _

From where he was sitting, Seto could see that Gozaburo Kaiba was clearly a man of logic. He studied the chessboard, his eyes keenly scanning every piece on the board, thinking up some strategy in his head. He finally made his move.

Although only 12 years old, Seto was a master at chess. And his little brother Mokuba was well on his way to becoming great as well. Seto scanned the board once more to make sure, and made his final move.

"Check mate," Seto said quietly looking up at his stepfather.

Gozaburo squinted at the board, and in disbelief shook his head.

Seto sat back in the large wooden oak chair.

Gozaburo's face went bright red and his huge frame seemed to shake all over. "Go to your room, boy."

"But you promised… you said you'd let me buy Mokuba a birthday present," Seto said sitting up in defence. "I beat you!"

"I let you two little brats into my house," Gozaburo said through gritted teeth. "You are in no position to argue with me boy!"

"Why did you even challenge me to this game?" Seto said, angered. "You are such a useless human being, is the best you can do a _game?_ Do you really get satisfaction out of beating a 12 year old?"

Gozaburo stood up quickly, knocking the chessboard off the table. He looked threateningly down on Seto. "Last chance, Seto."

"You really are pathetic. You can't deal with what you did to your son, so you have to make our lives miserable…"

Gozaburo seemed to freeze for a second before picking up a mirror from the dresser. Seto backed towards the wall but wasn't quick enough. Seto felt a sharp blow to the head then saw something red drip down over his eyes. Quickly loosing orientation, Seto felt his way out of the lounge and somehow made it to the third story of the Kaiba Mansion.

Little Mokuba looked up in fear, the sight of his big brother bleeding from the head.

"Seto!" Mokuba cried. "What happened? Seto!"

Seto stumbled in and sat down on the left bed. Mokuba jumped up and looked at his brother.

"Mokuba," Seto mumbled. "Please get me a towel."

Mokuba nodded and left the room. Moments later he returned with a clean white towel from the bathroom.

Seto nodded and wiped as much blood as he could out of his hair and face. "Thanks Mokuba."

"I hate him," Mokuba said quietly sitting cross-legged next to his brother.

"So do I, kid," Seto sighed. "But we can't do much about it, can we. We've just got to stay out of his way. Just promise, Mokie, if anything ever happens to me…"

"Seto! Don't say that, big brother!" Mokuba frowned. "We're going to be okay."

"Fine," Seto smiled. "As long as I'm here, I'll look out for you."

Mokuba hugged his bigger brother. "Thanks, Seto." After a moment he added, "I have an idea."

The little boy stood up and went to the hard wooden desk; one of the only pieces of furniture in their bedroom, and picked up a blunt pair of scissors.

"Mokuba!" Seto scolded. "We don't play with scissors…"

"No, silly," Mokuba smiled. "Come here."

Seto walked to the desk and Mokuba handed him the scissors. "We have to promise to look after each other. Write your name here."

Mokuba pointed to the clean surface of the desk and Seto smiled. It was a childish pact, to be engraved in their cold stepfather's antique furniture. _I love you kid, _Seto thought as he engraved a tiny S and a crooked M into the desk.

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Now Seto sat, head in his hands. His cheeks and hands were wet with finally shed tears. The more Seto told himself to stop, the worse it became. _If I cannot be strong for Mokuba, who can? I promised… _For so long he had been living inside his shell, shutting out any life form that displayed the ability to hurt. For so long he had been cold and seemingly emotionless. _Oh God, _thought Seto. _Poor Mokuba. _

Seto was almost sure he had forgotten how to love since those last few years under Gozaburo's care. He cared for his brother in every other way; he was always well dressed, well fed, clean and safe. But happy? Deep down, Seto knew that he had bottled away his emotions to care for Mokuba in the earlier days and for Kaiba Corp for the past few years. But surely Mokuba hadn't – Seto knew that for a long time he hurt terribly inside. How could a child that young possibly cope with such great loss, torment and sadness - without anybody to love?

_He probably hates me, _Seto thought. _Deep down he must think I am a lifeless monster. I am turning into our stepfather. I've tried my hardest, but is that ever going to be enough? I know I could never live without him, but if he doesn't know, it's pointless._The last terrible comment you made to the one you love may he the last thing they ever hear you say._ I could never live with myself if anything happened to Mokuba, especially if he thought I didn't love him. He's all I have. _

Seto wiped his face with the sleeve of his heavy trench coat. He looked at the laptop; _Wireless connected! Please click to continue… _Seto looked at the time -nine o'clock. He stood up and snapped the laptop shut. Picking up the brief case and the computer, Seto went to leave. He took one last look at the dark bedroom. With a sigh, he shut the heavy door, locked it and descended down the stairs.

In the lounge, Mokuba lay fast asleep, fully clothed on the couch – a maths textbook open on the coffee table. Seto entered the room and turned off the television, noticing his brother sleeping.

"Mokuba," Seto said, tapping his brother's shoulder. "Mokuba…"

Mokuba stirred a little and mumbled something like; _five more minutes, Seto! _

Seto smiled. "Mokuba, wake up!"

Mokuba opened his eyes and looked dumbly at his brother for a moment. After realising where he was he yawned.

"Did you finish your work, Seto?" he said sleepily.

"Yeah," said Seto. "Did you work out the homework?"

Mokuba shook his head. "It doesn't matter, big brother."

"Yes it does," Seto said. "I'm sorry I couldn't help you before."

Mokuba smiled. "I understand, Seto."

Seto almost felt tears threaten to fall again, but he bit his lip. "Go put your bedclothes on and I'll explain this maths to you before you go to bed."

Mokuba sat up and hugged his brother. "I love you, Seto."

"I love you too, kid."

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Please review. Be detailed, use examples from the text :) only kidding guys… 

If you hated it tell me, just don't flame me. If you want more… review like crazy!

_**Thanks for reading**_


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